Category Archives: Art

Melvin Way – Artists – Andrew Edlin Gallery

Born 1954, South Carolina. Melvin “Milky” Way is an Outsider Artist whose work occupies the uncharted border between art and science. Born in South Carolina in 1954, Way came to New York City in the 1970s to attend a technical school, earning a certificate to operate a power press. He played bass in local bands, and recorded a solo album with Encounter Records, which folded before the album could be released. Soon after, Way was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and following a string of unsuccessful relationships, became homeless. By 1989 Way was residing in the shelter run by Hospital Audiences International, a nonprofit organization offering art workshops to people with disabilities. Lower East Side artist Andrew Castrucci, a volunteer workshop leader at the time, encouraged Way to make art, and acted as his advocate during subsequent years. Way soon began to produce small, exquisite ballpoint-pen and ink drawings on found paper. Despite the very straightforward of his chosen genre, Way’s drawings are strikingly complex. Rich hybrids of scrawled text, mathematical equations, astronomical shorthand, chemical formulae, and alchemical punning, each work is marked by the artist’s signature, thrillingly dense sensibility. Way engages both the eye and the mind, drawing viewers into exquisite mysteries that may never be solved.- Jenifer P. Borum

Source: Melvin Way – Artists – Andrew Edlin Gallery

Grace Gillespie’s Vibrant Linocut Prints of Flowers and Foliage Tap Into Her Artistic Roots — Colossal

Grace Gillespie grew up in an artistic household, but she resisted pursuing visual art at first, especially printmaking, because it was something both of her parents excelled at. “I guess I wanted my own ‘thing,’” she tells Colossal, which for most of her twenties was music. Then, during the pandemic, she found herself furloughed, disillusioned with the music industry, and back at her parents’ home in Devon, England.During her six-month stay, Gillespie had access to a large etching press belonging to her mother, artist Sarah Gillespie. “I decided to try my hand at linocut and was immediately very addicted!” the artist says. “I was also just incredibly lucky that (my parents) had a lot of old lino and tools lying around—a bit ancient and rusty, but they did the trick.”

Source: Grace Gillespie’s Vibrant Linocut Prints of Flowers and Foliage Tap Into Her Artistic Roots — Colossal

Nengiren’s Embroidered Figures Embrace Feeling Carefree in Clothing — Colossal

Extravagant garments and quirky accessories adorn Nengiren’s collection of characters, encapsulating the boundless possibilities of fashion.

Source: Nengiren’s Embroidered Figures Embrace Feeling Carefree in Clothing — Colossal

 

Extravagant garments and quirky accessories adorn Irene Saputra’s characters encapsulating the boundless possibilities of fashion. The Tangerang, Indonesia-based embroidery artist, a.k.a. Nengiren, centers her work around dressing a nona kecil, or little woman.

Nengiren creates each character with no plan in mind. In the same way we might get dressed in the morning, she spontaneously designs the components of each figure’s outfit of the day, or “OOTD,” as she embroiders. She shares with Colossal:

Nona Kecil’s evolution mirrors my own journey as an artist. Initially, she adorned simple OOTDs with muted colors and straightforward patterns. However, the turning point occurred three years ago when I embraced motherhood. Balancing time between my son and art intensified my experimentation, leading Nona Kecil to explore more expressive and elaborate outfits.

With a graphic design background, illustration experience, and an interest in fashion, overarching motifs of typography, flashy patterns, color combinations, and texture guide the fabrication of each outfit, creating an array of harmonious looks. By way of vibrant threads and satin stitches, geometric shapes join together to construct a completely unique ensemble every time.

Monet’s Poplars

Source: Monet’s Poplars

 

Monet’s Poplars series 


Apparently, Monet was at work on three different groups of the same trees (in the end, there were 23 paintings in all) each group with its own compositional format, when he learned the trees were going to be cut down. So, he did what any self-respecting art god would do – he bought them.


Monet made most of the Poplars paintings in the summer and fall of 1891. He saw them while rowing toward the “floating studio” he kept moored further up river. They stood single file along an “s-curve” in the river, and you just have to look at the paintings to see why he fell hard for them. 

The trees, which belonged to the commune of Limetz, were indeed auctioned off for lumber. Monet therefore was forced into buying the trees to keep them standing long enough to finish painting them. Once he’d completed the series, he sold the trees back to the lumber merchant who wanted them.


Thus the world still has that graceful, elliptical geometry of light, leaf, breeze and branch, and we have one very focused and very successful never-say-die painter to thank for it.

Monday Musings — 11DEC23

As promised last week, the inks for that page.

And a fun video.

A video from Winsor McCay the artist on Little Nemo in Slumberland

A Canadian study gave $7,500 to homeless people. Here’s how they spent it.

Because they were participating in a randomized controlled trial, their outcomes were compared to those of a control group: 65 homeless people who didn’t receive any cash. Both cash recipients and people in the control group got access to workshops and coaching focused on developing life skills and plans.

Separately, the research team conducted a survey, asking 1,100 people to predict how recipients of an unconditional $7,500 transfer would spend the cash. They predicted that recipients would spend 81 percent more on “temptation goods” like alcohol, drugs, or tobacco if they were homeless than if they were not.

The results proved that prediction wrong. The recipients of the cash transfers did not increase spending on drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, but did increase spending on food, clothes, and rent, according to self-reports. What’s more, they moved into stable housing faster and saved enough money to maintain financial security over the year of follow-up.

That’s it for this Monday. Remember to pull your pants up so you don’t trip over your legs.